Telescoping wire annealing spider



13, W69 w. P. FREUND TELESCOPING WIRE ANNEALING SPIDER Filed Sept. 5,1967 INVENTOR. WILL/AM P. FREUNE BY 2/ 40m,

Mal/w? z ATTORNEY.

United States Patent 3,443,801 TELESCOPING WIRE ANNEALING SPIDER WilliamP. Freund, Broadview Heights, Ohio, assignor to The Alloy EngineeringCompany Filed Sept. 5, 1967, Ser. No. 665,596 Int. Cl. F27d /00; F271121/04 US. Cl. 263-47 14 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Background ofinvention Field of the invention.-The invention relates generally to themetal heat treating art, and more particularly to a novel wire coilannealing spider which may be stacked in a telescoping fashion.

Description of the prior art.Conventional full-height annealing spidersare normally about 80 inches high. It is often undesirable from aproduct standpoint to use such spiders, since the bottom coils of wirein a charge support the full height and weight of the charge. Forexample, with fine gauge wire the large stacking height of conventionalannealing spiders brings about the result that coils of wire near thebottom of the spider will become severely deformed during the annealingprocess.

Another disadvantage of conventional full-height spiders is that theyare difficult to load in the department where wire is being drawn. Thisdifiiculty is due to the relatively large height of the conventionalspider.

An additional disadvantage of conventional full-height spiders is thatthey cannot be used in all types of annealing operations. In someinstances, annealing spiders are needed for both low-height continuousfurnaces and normal-height batch furnaces. This necessitates the use ofa short spider as well as a tall spider.

A prior proposal of a stackable spider has required the use of anadditional connecting member disposed between two stacked spiders. Theconnecting member is inserted in an opening at the upper end of thelower spider and the upper spider is provided with an opening at itsbottom to receive the connecting member. Thus, if one wishes to stackone of the described spiders on one another, it is necessary to mountthe connecting member on the lower spider before stacking the otherspider from above. If the connecting member is not already mounted on aspider, it will take a certain amount of time to do so. Also, if aconnecting member is not close at hand or has been mislaid, additionaltime can be wasted. Therefore, from the standpoint of convenience andelficiency, this prior proposal has not been the most advantageous.

Summary of the invention The present invention contemplates a relativelyshort spider, approximately one-half the height of a full-height spideror less, provided with a recess in its lower end adapted to receive theupper portion of a similar spider so that one spider may be stacked uponanother. Each spider is provided with a base plate and is constructed sothat each lower spider supports the weight of the upper spider and itscharge. Thus, by stacking a plurality of the new spiders, the fulluseful height of an annealing ice furnace may be taken advantage ofwithout subjecting the lower coils of a charge to the total weight ofthe charge. Accordingly, one object of the present invention is toprevent deformation of coils of wire near the bottom of a charge and atthe same time to permit the utilization of the full useful height of anannealing furnace.

With the present invention, coils of wire may be loaded on therelatively short spiders in the drawing department, transported to theannealing department, and stacked upon one another on the annealingfurnace base. Due to their relatively short height, the stackablespiders are easier to load with coils of wire. Accordingly, anadditional object of the present invention is to provide an annealingspider which is easy to load.

It may be convenient to use the same spider in the lower heightcontinuous furnace as well as in the higher batch furnace. The presentinvention may be used one high in the continuous furnace and two high inthe batch furnace. Accordingly, another object of the present inventionis to provide a spider which can be used both in furnaces where arelatively low spider is desired and also in furnaces where a relativelygreater height spider can be accommodated.

Briefly, a preferred form of the present invention comprises a tube, aplurality of somewhat U-shaped staves connected along the length of thetube, and a base plate connected to the staves in spaced relation withthe tube. The base plate is formed with an opening and with the tube andstaves forms a recess for receiving and posi tively engaging an upperportion of a similar spider positioned beneath it.

From the foregoing, it can be appreciated that the present invention hasas its general object the provision of a novel telescoping spider whichhas overcome various problems encountered in relation to wire coilannealing spiders. Other objects and advantages will be apparent and thepresent invention will be better understood by those of ordinary skillin the art from the following specification taken in conjunction withthe accompanying drawings.

Description of the drawings FIGURE 1 is a top end view of the presentinvention;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary, side elevational view of the preferred formof the present invention taken along line 2'2 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view of two spiders of the preferred form of thepresent invention taken at their juncture along line 33 of FIGURE 5.

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary sectional view of two stacked spiders takenalong line 44 of FIGURE 2; and

FIGURE 5 is a side-elevational view, partly sectional and fragmentary,of two spiders of the preferred form of the present invention stackedupon one another.

Description of the preferred embodiment Referring now to the drawings,and to FIGURES l-4 in particular, a wire annealing spider constructed inac cordance with the invention is designated generally by the referencecharacter S. The spider S includes a cylindrical tube 10, a top plate 11welded to the upper end of tube 10, and a bottom plate 19 welded to thelower end of the tube 10. As shown, the bottom plate 19 has a centralaperture 21.

The top plate 11 has a pair of slots 30 extending in opposite directionsfrom a central portion 33 of the top plate 11. The adjacent ends of theslots 30 are spaced from one another a distance less than the diameterof the aperture 21 in the bottom plate 19. Communicating with the slots30 are a pair of slots 29 formed along the upper portion of the tube 10.

Several tapered staves 12 are welded along the length of the tube incircumferentially spaced locations.'As more fully described in US.Patent No. 3,188,067, issued June 8, 1965, to James L. Whitten, thesestaves serve to reinforce the tube 10 and to enhance heat transferduring heating and cooling of the spider. The lower ends of the staves12 are welded to a base plate 18 which is spaced below the bottom plate19. The staves 12 may be described as being somewhat U-shaped incross-section with the straight sides of the U diverging from the curved'portion of the U and tapering slightly inwardly from the bottom to thetop of the spider. The staves 12 are preferably spaced from one anotherand have longitudinal axes which lie in planes which pass through thecentral axis of the tube 10 and form angles of approximately 120 witheach adjacent plane.

Each of the tapered staves 12 is closed at its upper end by a plate 13.The plates 13 are inclined in a manner such that a coil of wire oranother spider will have a tendency to slide on the staves in a downwarddirection. This arrangement facilitates loading of the coils of wire onthe spiders and also facilitates stacking of the spiders. In thepreferred construction of the spider S, the tube 10 is provided withvent openings 14 through its side into the upper end portions of thestaves 12 in order to eliminate dead air spaces within the staves 12.

The base plate 18 has an opening designated generally by the numeral 20for receiving the upper portion of another spider of the type heredescribed. The opening 20 includes indents 22 each of which correspondsin Shape to the outer configuration of the staves 12. The indents 22 areequally spaced apart and are located between the staves 12. In theconstruction as illustrated in FIGURE 2, the staves 12 and the indents22 are spaced 60 from one another.

The lower end portions of the staves 12 which extend between the plates18 and 19 define leg portions 32. As best shown in FIGURES 2 and 5, theedges of each of the stave leg portions 32 are cut away at 27 to provideclearance for the upper end portion of a tube 10 of another spiderinserted through the base plate Opening 20. Each of the leg portions 32is reinforced by a plate 28. The plates 28 are welded to the inner sidesof the leg portions 32 and extend upwardly within the staves 12 to alevel slightly above the plate 19. The plates 28 are spaced from thetube 10 to form passages 38 which communicate with the insides of thestaves.

When used individually, the spiders function in a manner similar to thatdescribed in US. Patent No. 3,188,067, column 2, lines 41-57.

When it is desired to stack one spider upon another, two spiders S and Smay be positioned in the manner shown in FIGURE 5. The illustratedspider S is identical to the spider S and the various elements of spiderS are designated by numerals corresponding to those of spider S with aprime mark.

As the spider S is held over the spider S, the base 18 of the spider Smay be easily aligned with the upper portion of the spider S. If theindents 22 are not properly aligned with the upper ends of the staves12', the tapered formation of the staves 12 and the inclined arrangementof the plates 13 will facilitate alignment and movement of the spider Sdownward over the spider S.

With the spiders S and S in stacked arrangement as shown in FIGURE 5,the leg portions 32 of the spider S extend downwardly adjacent the outersurface of the tube 10' of the spider S and occupy spaces between thestaves 12' of the spider S. The base plate 18 of the spider S completelysurrounds and is in closely spaced relationship with the outer surfacesof the spider S so as to prevent the spider S from falling olf spider S.Further, the full weight of the spider S is supported by the lowerspider S because of the engagement of the bottom plate 19 of the tube 10with the top plate 11' of the tube 10'.

In addition, when the spiders S and S are stacked in an annealingfurnace, there is ample provision for the passage of gases through bothspiders. Gases may flow through the slots 29 and 30, through the centralaperture 21 and the slots 30 and through the central aperture 21'. Gasesmay also flow through the passages 38 and the vent openings 14 toeliminate dead air spaces with the staves 12. When the annealingoperation has been completed, a suitable grasping means may be placedaround the central portion 33 of the spider S for lifting it from thespider S.

With the construction described above, a novel wire coil annealingspider is provided that may be stacked upon a similar spider. Since eachspider is provided with a recess in its lower portion adapted to receivethe upper portion of a similar spider, no additional connecting means isnecessary for stacking the spiders. When telescoped together, the weightof the upper spider S and its charge are supported by the lower spider Sso that the coils of the lower charge will not be deformed. It will alsobe seen that the new spiders can be conveniently used both individuallyand in telescoped arrangement.

Although the invention has been described in its preferred form, with acertain degree of particularity, it is understood that the presentdisclosure of the preferred form has been made only by way of exampleand that numerous changes in the details of construction and thecombination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to withoutdeparting from the spirit and the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A telescoping spider for holding coils of wire during annealingcomprising:

(a) a. tube having first and second ends and first and second endportions;

(b) a plurality of members having first end portions longitudinallyconnected to the tube and having second end portions extending beyondthe second end portion of the tube;

(0) each of said members being somewhat U-shaped and including alongitudinally aligned plate connected to the inner sides of each memberat least at said second end portion thereof to reinforce each member;

(d) engagement means connected to said second end of the tube forpositively engaging another spider; and,

(e) a base plate connected to the second end portions of the members inspaced relationship with the tube, said base plate having an openingconstructed and arranged for receiving a first end portion of anotherspider so that said engagement means may positively engage said anotherspider.

2. A telescoping spider for holding coils of wire during annealingcomprising:

(a) a tube having first and second ends and first and second endportions,

(b) a plurality of members having first end portions longitudinallyconnected to the tube and having second end portions extending beyondthe second end portion of the tube;

(0) engagement means connected to the second end of the tube forpositively engaging another spider; and,

(d) a base plate connected to the second end portions of the members inspaced relationship with the tube, said base plate having an openingconstructed and arranged for receiving a first end portion of anotherspider so that said engagement means may positively engage said anotherspider;

(e) said members being disposed in spaced relationship with one another,and each of said members being cut away at said second end portionthereof so that the first end portion of said another spider can beinserted in a space, a portion of which is bounded by the second endportions of the members.

3. annealing spider for supporting coiled charges comprising:

(a) a tube having first and second ends,

(b) a plurality of members integrally secured to said tube around itscircumference and projecting longitudinally thereof beyond said secondend of said tube, and

(c) a plate secured to said members in spaced relation to said secondend of said tube,

(d) said plate having an opening shaped to permit the first tube end ofa corresponding spider to be inserted through said plate into abuttingengagement with said second end of said tube.

4. A spider as claimed in claim 3 including means secured to said firstend of said tube for permitting a lift ing mechanism to operativelyengage said spider.

5. An annealing spider for supporting coiled charges comprising:

(a) a tube having first and second ends,

(b) a plurality of members integrally secured to said tube around itscircumference and extending longitudinally thereof,

(c) said members having first end portions secured to said tube adjacentsaid first end thereof and second end portions projecting beyond saidsecond end of said tube, and

(d) a base plate secured to said second end portions of said members inspaced relation to said second end of said tube,

(e) said base plate having an opening shaped to telescopically receive afirst tube end of a corresponding spider together with the first endportions of the members secured thereto.

6. The spider of claim 5 wherein said tube and said members form anassembly which is tapered inwardly from said base plate to said firstend of said tube.

7. A spider as claimed in claim 5 wherein said members are of generallyU-shaped cross-sectional configuration.

8. A spider as claimed in claim 5 including a top plate secured to saidfirst end of said tube and including an opening for permitting a liftingmechanism to operatively engage said spider.

9. A spider as claimed in claim 5 wherein said second end portions ofsaid members are spaced apart circumferentially of said tube to definelegs extending from said second end of said tube to said base plate.

10. An annealing spider for supporting coiled charges comprising:

(a) a tube having first and second ends,

(b) said tube including means adjacent said first end for operativeengagement with a lifting mechanism for said spider,

(c) a plurality of staves integrally secured to said tube in spacedrelation around its circumference,

((1) said staves having first end portions adjacent said first end ofsaid tube and second end portions projecting beyond said second end ofsaid tube,

(e) said second end portions of said staves defining legs spaced apartcircumferentially of said tube, and

(f) a base plate secured to the ends of said legs in spaced relation tosaid second end of said tube,

(g) said base plate having an opening shaped to permit the first end ofthe tube of a corresponding spider together with the surrounding staveportions secured thereto to be inserted through said base plate intocontacting engagement with said second end of said tube.

11. A spider as claimed in claim 10 wherein said staves are taperedaxially inwardly of said tube from said base plate to said first end ofsaid tube.

12. A telescoping wire coil annealing spider comprismg:

(a) a tube having first and second ends and first and second endportions, respectively;

(b) a first end plate connected to the first end of the' tube;

(c) a second end plate connected to the second end of the tube;

((1) a plurality of somewhat U-shaped staves having longitudinal edgesconnected to the tube and having first and second ends and first andsecond end portions respectively, the second end portions of the stavesextending beyond the second end of the tube and the first end portionsof the staves connected to the tube;

(e) a base plate connected to the staves at the scond ends thereof inspaced relationship with the tube', the base plate having an openingwith indented portions constructed and arranged to receive first endportions of another similar spider; and,

(f) the base plate and the staves constructed and arranged to receive aportion of the similar spider so that the spider may be stacked upon thesimilar spider which may positively engage the second end plate.

13. The spider of claim 12 wherein the staves are cut away along theirlongitudinal inside edges at said second end portions thereof to provideroom for the movement of the similar spider into and out of the regionformed by the second end plate, staves, and base plate.

14. The spider of claim 12 wherein each stave includes a plate connectedto its inner sides along at least the second end portion thereof forreinforcement of the staves.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,310,991 2/1943 Pierce 263472,803,447 8/1957 King 26347 JOHN J. CAMBY, Primary Examiner.

U.S. Cl. X.R. 981 15

